That led guitarist Kirk Hammett to report that he had always wanted to play “on the space shuttle, maybe the moon” as they were running out of places to play on Earth.

And when asked about the possibility of being the first band to play in space, Ulrich says they have “a few feelers out” to see if it could happen one day.

Speaking with Siriusxm after their Baltimore rehearsal set last night, Ulrich says: “Living in San Francisco which is the gateway to the future, obviously all those things are being planned around San Francisco to a degree so I feel that we are close to that as we can be.

“There’s a few feelers out to a few people – nothing worth giving away yet. The headline ‘Metallica promises to play in space’ can certainly be derived out of this wishy-washy answer!”

He adds: “I don’t really want to commit to anything other than to say that if there really is a possibility for this to happen, then we will happily be at the very front of that line.

“I think we’ve shown over the last few decades that that sense of spirit, that sense of adventure still burns in us and that we would love to, and would bend over backwards to, make anything out of the ordinary happen, so watch this space.”

Metallica will begin the North American leg of their WorldWired tour today (May 10) with a show at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.